Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Payback
time, Florida homeowners foreclosing on banks - (www.cnn.com) Since the housing bubble burst in Florida five
years ago, more than 400,000 borrowers have had their homes foreclosed on by
their lenders. But for some, it's payback time. Hundreds of homeowners and
condo associations are foreclosing on banks that have failed to pay dues and
other expenses on the properties they've repossessed. When banks foreclose on a
home they become responsible for paying fees to the homeowners association --
both any unpaid fees going back as far as 12 months and all expenses going
forward. In many cases, however, banks are failing to pay, leaving these
associations short on cash, according to Miami-based attorney Ben Solomon. But
now, homeowners groups are putting liens on the properties until banks pay
up and foreclosing on them if they don't.

Dust Bowl Wilting U.S. Wheat as Funds Turn Bearish: Commodities
- (www.bloomberg.com) The worst U.S. drought since
the 1930s Dust Bowl is damaging wheat crops across the world’s biggest
supplier, at a time when hedge funds are the most bearish on
prices in seven months. About 61 percent of the country is mired in a dry spell
that the government says will last at least until March in states growing the
most winter wheat. With dormant crops already in the worst condition since
records began in 1985 and global inventories headed for a third annual drop,
Chicago futures may rise as much as 25 percent to $9.50 a bushel this year, the
median of 32 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg shows. That raises the
prospect of prices reversing their 20 percent drop since a July peak, a retreat
that spurred hedge funds to start betting on more declines in December. The
prolonged drought is increasing concern that supplies will tighten because
there is also dry weather in Argentina and Australia.

Risk Seen in Some Mortgage Bonds - (online.wsj.com) After a surge in bonds backed
by mortgages on commercial properties, some investors are finding cracks in the
foundations. Investors piled into these bonds, which are made up of pools of
loans linked to properties such as shopping malls and hotels, because of the
relatively high yields they offered. But that demand has sent prices soaring,
and yields tumbling to record lows. As well, some investors remain worried that
defaults on these loans remain at historically high rates.

Did
Generation X Cause the Housing Crisis? - (www.usnews.com) The largest percentage of households in
foreclosure belonged to those in Generation X—in particular, Gen-Xers who had
high average household income ($59,500) and years of education (14.8 years). It
seems counter intuitive that a well-educated and affluent group of families
would lead the foreclosure charge. Yet this group of households made up more
than 1 in 10 foreclosures. How do affluent families end up in foreclosure? Luckily,
the researchers provided statistics about the types of mortgages that were in
foreclosure. Mortgages with High Loan-to-Value. The size of the down
payment at closing can vary greatly. FHA loans can require as little as 2.5
percent of the purchase price. A review of mortgages in foreclosure found that
the median mortgage had a loan-to-value of about 65 percent. Mortgages in
foreclosure had a median of 96 percent.

What
is actually going on in Iceland - (www.studiotendra.com) Why are these myths being
spread about Iceland? Why do people think that Iceland is a progressive
paradise …. ? Why is Iceland being paraded by the occupy movement as an example
of how things should be done? I don’t know. My theory, born out by the names of
those who seem to be the sources of the biggest myths, is that there is a group
of Icelanders who are blatantly lying to foreigners. Possibly they are doing
this to balm their wounded nationalistic pride, have convinced themselves that
it’s true and that Iceland really is great and unique. Possibly its because
they see profit in lying to gullible foreigners. The latter was a national
sport during the banking bubble and has been a standard Icelandic tactic
throughout the ages, but I can’t rule out the role of idiotic nationalism in
this nonsense. I don’t know. The only thing I know is that you are being lied
to and that Icelanders are very good at lying to themselves. If they weren’t,
we wouldn’t be in this mess.